This proposal represents a request from a group of PHS funded investigators having overlapping imaging needs for funds to purchase a Carl Zeiss LSM 510 Meta DuoScan laser scanning confocal microscope. The system will be housed and operated by the Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center (MBIC) as a multi-user facility in the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. MBIC is currently funded as one of only five National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways with the core mission to develop optical biosensor and imaging informatics technologies for the detection of molecular-level interactions within living cells and biological tissues. The acquisition of the proposed instrument would provide on-site access to state of the art confocal microscopy instrumentation within the Mellon Institute, which is essential for a variety of live cell experiments as well as for routine analysis and characterization of the fluorescent probe technology developed within MBIC. Current instrumentation available within MBIC and partner faculty's research laboratories are both aged and unsupported or are currently fully utilized. While access to other advanced microscopy instrumentation is possible within the general Pittsburgh area, we have found that this poses a logistical problem for experiments in live cells and animals and is not practical for analyses of new biosensor and probe technologies on a routine basis. In addition, the capabilities of the proposed system meet a number of current needs that existing instrumentation is incapable of fulfilling. Since MBIC is a multi-disciplinary collaborative center which brings together a diverse collection of Carnegie Mellon faculty spanning several academic departments, colleges and research institutes, the acquired instrument will provide investigators across the university with substantially improved imaging capabilities to integrate into their research programs and will subsequently provide new opportunities to address fundamental biological questions using advanced microscopy and imaging methodologies. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]